A bit of research !

[cotterless45]

Blithely observing and listing sky objects can be greatly enhanced by a small amount of reading up. I was always intrigued by the central star of the Eskimo Nebula. A short excursion provided the background to white dwarf stars and the evolution of stars in general.

It is still miraculous to me that we can not only observe features such as NGC 2419, but find out about its age , distance and theories of both globular clusters and galaxies.

It's also a great addition to outreach events ,especially when most folk have not looked through or a telescope or the whole night sky. I'm no scientist and pretty forgetful clumsy chap , but certain things stick better when you've seen them and taken a bit of effort to find out more.  I was explaining the 11 year solar cycle , suddenly remembering the rebooting and subsequent contortions of the solar magnetic field. Hopefully such things will encourage others to look deeper into what we see,

under clear skies ! Nick.

[Paul73]

I couldn’t agree more. Having an, even rudimentary, understanding of what you are looking at really helps the enjoyment. Try searching out a distant quasar and try and get your head around: a) the quasar as a body; and, b) the phenomenal distances involved!

For a slightly different take on the ‘read then observe’ idea. An astro book arrived in my Christmas stocking, which charts the lives and discoveries of the main characters behind our understanding of the heavens. It has inspired me to hunt down the objects discussed; just to follow in the pioneers’ footsteps and marvel at where those observations have taken science.

ie. Herschel was a double star enthusiast,  long before Nick took up the reins. He spent two years looking at little else!

Paul

 

[wookie1965]

2/3 of the books I own where recommended to me by yourself I have come a long way since those early days a PSP when I was struggling to find anything.

Now I can give pretty good observing reports with quite a bit of information as I have read up about my targets. 

[Alan White]

I quite often do quite the opposite,
I observe, note and then look up about targets observed later.

Whichever way around you do it, research does make things more interesting and adds to the hobby for myself.

[Paul73]

20 minutes ago, wookie1965 said:

 I have come a long way since those early days a PSP when I was struggling to find anything. 

Me too. Except that I STILL can’t find those simple targets, but I can now talk a Really good game!!

Paul

[Alan White]

9 minutes ago, Paul73 said:

Me too. Except that I STILL can’t find those simple targets, but I can now talk a Really good game!!

Paul

Ah someone else playing the same game as me!

 

[wookie1965]

When I had my 6" at PSP I was led to believe I could view all galaxies and that is what I went for and could not find them.

Now at home I go for clusters globular and open and double stars much more rewarding.